Bhutto: Primetime coverage plans…
On FNC, Shepard Smith will be anchoring The Fox Report, Laura Ingraham will sub on the O’Reilly Factor, and Greta Van Susteren will anchor On The Record. On Hannity & Colmes, Bhutto advisor Husain Haqqani will be appearing according to Colmes’ blog…
On MSNBC, Keith Olbermann will be on tonight to anchor Countdown.
On CNN, Anderson Cooper will be anchoring 360 tonight…
Update: CNN put out a release for its coverage plans…
CNN is marshalling its extensive global resources for prime-time coverage on the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Dec. 27, 2007. Wolf Blitzer guides the network’s prime-time coverage beginning at 4 p.m. (ET) with the latest analysis and insights and CNN will offer special editions of The Situation Room, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Larry King Live, Anderson Cooper 360 and CNN Special Investigations Unit - Pakistan: Terror Central.
Throughout the day and evening on Dec. 27, CNN’s world-wide reporting includes coverage from Jim Acosta, general assignment correspondent; Peter Bergen, terrorism analyst; Arwa Damon, Baghdad bureau correspondent; Jill Dougherty, U.S. Affairs Editor; Wilf Dinnick, International correspondent; Ed Henry, White House correspondent; John King, chief national correspondent; Robin Oakley, European political editor; Keith Oppenheim, national correspondent; Nic Robertson, senior international correspondent; Richard Roth, United Nations correspondent; Barbara Starr, Pentagon correspondent; Ali Velshi, senior business correspondent and co-host of Your $$$$$; and Zain Verjee, State Department correspondent. More than a dozen CNN staff from around the world are being deployed to Pakistan to cover her death, funeral and aftermath of the assassination of Bhutto. Many will travel via the United Arab Emirates, the location of CNN’s newest newsgathering hub, and will arrive early Friday morning (ET) to support CNN’s Mohsin Naqvi, who broke the story this morning.CNN Special Investigations Unit - Pakistan: Terror Central will air at 11 p.m. (ET). In this one-hour documentary, Nic Robertson reports that al Qaeda and the Taliban are alive, well and building their base of operations in Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf is balancing a fine line between keeping his allies happy in the “War on Terror” while convincing his people that he puts Pakistan first. The U.S. and Britain depend on Musharraf and his Army to hunt down the Taliban and al Qaeda, but critics wonder if he’s playing a double game. In an exclusive interview, Robertson spoke with Mullah Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who shared Osama bin Laden’s ideology of jihad before he was killed in the Red Mosque terror attack in July 2007.
Amazing how there were nine comments posted and not a single one was on topic. Truly amazing…
Comment by Spud — December 27, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
Amused - could you please enlighten me and let me know who funded the Afghani mujahideen through the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), started under Carter and continued under Reagan/Bush? The information I have read is that after the Afghani mujahideen drove out the Soviets (and were called Freedom Fighters by Reagan), they fell into a civil war which ended when the Taliban emerged as the main power holding faction, which allied itself with Azzam’s militant faction to hold power in Afghanistan and spread their jihad worldwide. So, while the CIA didn’t create Al Qaeda on purpose, they were involved in the creation of the groups that would eventually become Al Qaeda.
But if that is incorrect, please point me toward more accurate information. I’m not being snarky, I’m just wondering where you got your information as I am not well-versed on 70’s and 80’s CIA activities and some aspects of global politics.
Comment by Cory!! Strode — December 27, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
Sorry, Spud. Go ahead and delete mine as well.
I will be very interested to see how this is covered, as there is a lot of history that goes into this story, and most Americans have little to no information about that history.
Comment by Cory!! Strode — December 27, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
Spud, I was commenting on (and even quoted) a passage from Alan Colmes’ blog. So, how is that off topic?
Comment by Terance — December 27, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
Um, Elmonica… isn’t someone (or a group) who resorts to murder to remove a political opponent, evidence of an extremist? Not many moderates going out and killing their opponent… seems pretty obvious extremism to me.
As for the US funding Al-Q… it may have happened in the past, but I’m not sure what people are trying to prove by that example. How was anyone supposed to know 20 or 30 years ago what Al-Q would turn into today?
Throughout history, we can find examples of this… in WWI we were allied with Italy, and then by WWII we were against them. Does that mean we were funding the enemy? I don’t think so.
And now I must attend to more pressing matters… someone just fell through my ceiling. What an interesting day today is shaping out to be.
Comment by ImNotBlue — December 27, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
I’d love to answer that Cory, but I’d rather not anger Spud. I hope that my pointing out that the Taliban and AQ are/were two totally separate entities who joined forces in the 1990s is enough for you (for now) and doesn’t tick off Spud.
Now, back on the subject at hand, I have 2 questions:
1) Does FNC have anyone stationed in Pakistan, or near enough to give local scene reports?
2) Why no word on what Courtney Friel will be adding to the coverage?
Comment by Amused — December 27, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
ANYWAYSSSSSS……
Why the hell is Dan Abrams staying on vacation? Is he pulling a Lou Dobbs?
Comment by Anonymous — December 27, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
^7: It’s not like anyone actually watches MSNBC anyway, so why should he bother to interrupt his vacation?
Comment by Amused — December 27, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
One of your stalkers, perhaps?
Comment by laural — December 27, 2007 @ 5:45 pm
^^7 Referring to Inb.
Comment by laural — December 27, 2007 @ 5:47 pm
Well, it was right ontop of my bed… but no, not one of my fans.
Although, stranger things have happened… *wink*wink*
Comment by ImNotBlue — December 27, 2007 @ 5:50 pm
^^^Seems like more of these are off topic Spud^^^
Comment by Aaron — December 27, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
> Does FNC have anyone stationed in Pakistan, or near enough to give local scene reports?
Fox has had its Pakistan producer filing reports all day.
Comment by johnny dollar — December 27, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
J$ nice new format on your site
Comment by Aaron — December 27, 2007 @ 7:09 pm
Didn’t Olbermann cut his vacation short last year when President Ford died. bummer.
Comment by untitled — December 27, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Amused, very funny re: Courtney Friel. You think she’ll be called on as an expert in mideast affairs?
And IMB, lots of people have guests “dropping in” during the holidays, but typically not like what you’ve got going on!
Comment by Missy — December 27, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
Missy, I just figured that since she’s being inserted into just about every aspect of FNC and her fanboys (one-handed typists) swear that she’s a great reporter too, that of course she’d be a serious component of the Bhutto coverage. I’m sure she not only knows all about how crucial Pakistan is in the WOT, but even pronounce Bhutto’s name as well. At least I’m sure she’s learned the pronunciation since the time she mangled it.
Comment by Amused — December 27, 2007 @ 8:14 pm
Thanks, J$.
Comment by Amused — December 27, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
Amused, thanks, your Courtney Friel line made me lol.
INB, sorry about your misfortunes from above, but I had to smile with that, too. Hope you solved your problem.
As for The Fox Report, I know others are capable but It was good to have Shep back tonight.
Comment by Char — December 27, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
Yes, it’s been very amusing around here. Nothing like being sick, loafing around the apartment all day, deciding to take a nap… and finding a leg dangling above your pillow. Always makes for a good story. I just wish I had taken a picture.
Comment by ImNotBlue — December 27, 2007 @ 10:25 pm
Amused, I’m afraid you may be right about CF. I can easily see FNC trying to insert her into the story, as they’ve done on other topics. She’d be perfectly fine for anything to do with Britany or Paris, but let’s hope they show some restraint and call in Amy Kellogg, Jennifer Griffin or someone with some knowledge of the subject.
BTW, Shep’s program originated from Memphis tonight, if anyone is interested. He said he’s going back on vacation and would see us next week. But it was good of him and/or Fox to have him do the Fox Report tonight with this very significant day of news.
Comment by Missy — December 27, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
INB: What a day! I’m definitely there with you, being home sick these past couple of days. But no body parts through my ceiling. Then again, with all the construction going on here, it wouldn’t surprise me.
Missy: I think that the suits at FNC are smart enough to not put the space cadet on something of this magnitude. For one thing, she’s proven that she has trouble pronouncing “tough” names. She’s probably scratching her head and wondering what the big deal is about some guy Stan and the packing that he’s been doing.
As for Shep’s cameo appearance, that comes with making $7-8 million per annum and being the lead anchor of the network. His makeup was worse than usual, which never does him justice.
Comment by Amused — December 27, 2007 @ 10:48 pm
MSNBC at 9pm: Teenage runaways from Chicago!! Exciting.
Don’t they have a documentary about Pakistan somewhere in their million hours of tape?
Comment by Brent — December 27, 2007 @ 10:58 pm
Yeah, heck of a day.
But, back to the topic at hand. The ratings from tonight will be very interesting, especially at the 8pm hour. O’Reilly was out, Keith was in, and the Situation Room was on later than normal. It will be very interesting to see who won what, and if we can get a 15 minute break down, we can see for how long.
Comment by ImNotBlue — December 27, 2007 @ 10:59 pm
Blue: Spud has not yet posted the numbers from Monday and Tuesday (Christmas), TVNewser has and they are markedly down for everybody.
Traditionally people just don’t watch much TV during the last two weeks of the year.
Comment by Ira — December 27, 2007 @ 11:51 pm
Well, yes Ira… but that’s my point. It will be interesting to see how many people tuned in, with this big breaking news happening… and who took the lead.
If FNC and Laura Ingram lead, it will be a big credit to the network and to her as a fill-in host. If Keith leads, it will mean people are drifting away from O’Reilly when he’s not in town. And if CNN wins, it will show CNN’s power in the “breaking news” category, as well as the popularity of Wolf. But that’s just my opinion.
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